Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New Tunes Tuesday / The Big Beat 'cast 07

After a few weeks of gathering music, let's consider this Beat'cast a proper New Tunes Tuesday. I've also gone on a tangent, paying tribute to a few bands from New Zealand. Between there and Australia, it sure seems like those countries are putting out some great music at the moment. Just press play on the show, and you should notice an old favorite has crept back into the fold. Look even closer, and you'll be able to do something you never have before.

Aw, poop! I had to take this Beat'cast down, but here's what was played:

BEST COAST "When You Wake Up" (Mexican Summer), from Summer Is Forever EP - I've had a bit of a rollercoaster feeling about Best Coast. Loved the early singles, got turned off by the hype around the album, was unimpressed by the live show but this song kind of gets me back to the initial feeling. A previously unreleased track included on a split EP with tourmates Wavves and No Joy, this bit of audio sunshine will cut through even the cloudiest winter day.

DJ LANCE LOCKARM "Bring The Muzik Back" (none) - A total guilty pleasure, here's an old skool, bootleg mashup from the pre-Girl Talk days when labels were vowing to hunt down DJ's like lobbyists after a new congressman.

SMITH WESTERNS "Fallen In Love" (Fat Possum), from Dye It Blonde - The indie music media has seemed to coalesce around this young Chicago band's second record, which is nothing more than a good old-fashioned indie rock record of the kind your cool older sibling listened to.

PARTS & LABOR "Constant Future" (Jagjaguwar), from Constant Future - Each of the Brooklyn band's last two outings, Mapmaker (2007) and Receivers (2008), landed on my year-end Top 20 list, proving that there's still a little rock left in indie rock. Guitarist Sarah Lipstate's departure reduced the band to a trio, so we'll see how that affects the sound of the full-length, due on March 8th.

YUCK "Get Away" (Fat Possum), from Yuck - OK, if someone were to tell me that J. Mascis produced this record, I'd totally buy it. Yuck's the rare British band that, for the most part, sound American and in this case, circa 1992. The album's full of fuzzy grungepop of the kind that's inhabited our radio waves for the better part of two decades. Competent, catchy, interesting? Sure. New, fresh, forward-thinking? Maybe not so much. Still, I expect them to find an audience in the US although I'm guessing the terminally trendy just might say 'ewww' to Yuck.

ANNA CALVI "Love Won't Be Leaving" (Domino), from Anna Calvi - PJ Harvey fans, listen up! This British siren will be someone you'll hear a lot about over the next few months. (TBB coverage)

THE SOFT MOON "Circles" (Captured Tracks), from The Soft Moon - A hat tip to Facebook friend Matt Lacefield for putting this on my radar. The debut from San Francisco's Luis Vasquez is a blend of post-punk, krautrock, and prog: all things that make my heart race a bit. With a bit of goth-y undertones, it's easy to hear this bumping up next to Bauhaus or early New Order.

[DOWNLOAD] THE VEILS "Bloom" (Pitch Beast), from Troubles of the Brain EP - London-based New Zealander Finn Andrews, then and always The Veils, takes the reins of the entire process by issuing this new EP on his own label. Troubles of the Brain is another set of plaintive, darkly-hued indie rock, reminiscent of Nick Cave and U2 at their most melancholic. (via Rollo & Grady)

THE CHILLS "I Love My Leather Jacket" (Flying Nun), from Kaleidoscope World - One of the standard bearers of the seminal Flying Nun label, The Chills are best remembered in the US for their 1990 semi alt-hit "Heavenly Pop Hit". A few years prior, this three minutes of vintage drone pop reached #4 on the New Zealand pop chart in 1986. Their compilation of early singles, Kaleidoscope World, is the band's essential document.

SPLIT ENZ "I Got You" (A&M), from True Colours - Forming at Auckland University in 1971, they'd already released four albums before this smash put them on the world stage in 1979. Vocalist Neil Finn went on to even greater fame with Crowded House before embarking on a moderately successful solo career. In 2009, he spearheaded the charity record The Sun Came Out under the name 7 Worlds Collide that featured Johnny Marr, along with members of Wilco and Radiohead. (This is one of my all-time favorite songs...)

[DOWNLOAD] SECRET KNIVES "The Garden" (A Low Hum), from Affection - Another track from the Affection disc that's fully free to download. One of the best CD's of the past year and worthy of your attention. (TBB coverage)

The Fine Print

Music posted on The Big Beat is for sampling purposes only, in the hopes of promoting the artist and their work. Should the artist, label, or rights holder feel better served by having the music in question removed, please e-mail me and I'll do so immediately. I play nice.